Page 43 of Kilo's Edge

God, I hoped he was right. I wanted to believe that somehow everything was going to turn out okay. There’d just been too many times in the past when those hopes were dashed. I wasn’t sure I could believe it anymore. The man who was after us had too much power and money. He always seemed to find us.

I wokeup before Kilo the next morning and stared down at his handsome face as he slept. It was relaxed and he looked so carefree. It wasn’t fair of me to put him in danger. I was juststarting to realize that. And that was what I’d done, however unintentional it’d been. If he associated with me, Kruzman would find him. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to him.

Disentangling myself from his arms, I slipped out of bed and out of his house. I hurried across the lawn to my own home and went inside. Carmen was at the dining room table eating cereal. I sat down next to her and rested my chin in my hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up from her phone. She made friends fast everywhere she went. There were a couple of girls her age that had been in the same summer school program as her and it hadn’t taken long before they were constantly texting each other.

“Nothing,” I told her.

She set her phone and spoon down and stared at me. The unamused look on her face made me laugh. She looked so much like Mama in that moment. “Spill.”

“I don’t think I can keep seeing Kilo.” It made me miserable to even say it out loud.

Her face fell. “Why not? I like him.”

“I do, too. That’s why I can’t keep seeing him.”

She scrunched her nose. “That’s stupid.”

“I’m worried he’ll get hurt because of me.” I didn’t mention Kruzman’s name. It made Carmen shut down anytime she heard it. Even now the happy glow on her face dimmed a little.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

She reached out and put her hand on top of mine on the table. “Camila?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you so much.”

Swallowing back tears, I managed to choke out, “I love you, too, Bug.” It was an old nickname. One I didn’t use muchanymore because she didn’t like it. She was too old for ‘baby’ nicknames. Or so she’d declared a few years ago. But she didn’t protest my use of it now.

“I don’t know what you should do either,” she told me. “But maybe you should talk to Kilo about it.”

“I already told him everything.” Mostly. I didn’t go into the gory details of how close Kruzman’s men had come to killing me the last time.

“Talk to him again,” she told me, staring at me with far too much wisdom in her eyes. “He doesn’t deserve you pushing him away.”

“I’m trying toprotecthim.”

“Maybe you should give him a chance to protectyou,” she countered. “He isreallybig.”

That made me crack a smile, then I narrowed my eyes. “When did you get so smart?” I teased.

She shrugged. “I’ve always been smart.” Then she picked her phone up again and proceeded to ignore me.

Taking advice from an eleven-year-old was me hitting rock bottom, but I couldn’t deny that it was good advice. Kilo at least deserved to know why we shouldn’t continue seeing each other. I didn’t expect him to protect me. It wasn’t his responsibility. But I liked him enough to talk to him again and explain my decisions. I sighed. That wasn’t a talk I was looking forward to. I’d give him a day or two to process what I’d told him. Maybe he would come to the same conclusion I had. It was best if we parted ways now. Before anyone got hurt.

CHAPTER 18

Kilo

Iwalked into the clubhouse, nodding at Hype as I walked past. He was busy restocking the liquor behind the bar. Most days I would stop to give him a hand, but I was on a mission. The other guys were already busy outside. Bolo was mostly in charge, per Ruck, on the building projects, so he was getting everybody started. I went down the hallway and knocked on a door.

“Yeah.”

Stepping into the office, I went and flopped down in the chair on the other side of Ruck’s desk. I wiped a hand over my mouth, wondering how I was even going to start this conversation.

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